Shattered Promises 3b: Starting Over
by JulieM
Summary: Second half of part 3...This part of the series takes place in the year following Cathy's placement in her Uncle Jim's home. During this year, everything from Goodbyes' up until Body Talk' takes place. Rated T for themes of violence. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended by this series, which is being done solely for recreational purposes. JAG and all of its characters are the property of Don P. Bellisario et al.

No profit is being made from this series.

I'd really appreciate any feedback you wish to give me!

Author's note: This piece is part of a series that consists of twelve parts;

1.Things Fall Apart.

2. Picking Up The Pieces.

3(a & b.) Starting Over.

4. Getting It Right.

5. Getting To Know You.

6. Happy Endings.

7. Sleepless Night

8. See You In My Dreams.

9. Scattered Photographs.

10. Dreams Really Do Come True.

11. Celebrations.

12. Turning Full Circle.

Summary: This part of the series takes place in the year following Cathy's placement in her Uncle Jim's home. SP: Starting Over, part 3b takes place immediately the events of 3a.

Spoilers: None, really, but during this year, everything from Goodbyes' up until Body Talk' takes place. I thought that it might be interesting to add another JAG part-time character into this, just to liven things up! Please tell me what you think!

Classifictaion: Drama, angst, tiny bit of UST (Planning on some Harm/Mac shipperiness, later on in the series.)

AN: Please do remember that this was one of the first JAG fanfics that I ever wrote. This was a good seven or so years ago, before I even knew about this archive. Hence, why this was never posted there. Thought you might all enjoy reading it though, even if I was still developing as a fanfiction writer.

Okay, now onto the story…

Shattered Promises 3b: Starting Over, part 1.

OOOO

From SP 3a: Starting over, ch8…

Mac gave a big sigh of relief, then exclaimed to herself,

"Stress," trying to convince herself that was what it was. The whole

thing seemed to have a familiar note to it, but Mac just disregarded

this thought and pulled out onto the road again.

OOOO

Ch 1

Mac was about an hour outside D.C. when she got the call from  
Captain Lundt.

"Mackenzie."

"Colonel?" Lundt asked, before continuing, "Listen, I can't go  
into details, Mac, but you need to get back here, now."  
Instantly alerted by his tone of voice, Mac sobered, asking  
him, "What's wrong Captain?"

Lundt, however, would not go into details over the phone, only  
insisting that Mac get back as soon as she could. Now panic  
stricken, Mac pulled into a gas station and turned around, about to  
pull out into the lane leading in the direction she had come, when  
her phone rang.

She answered to find it was Harm, who was more than a little  
worried after reading the series of messages that she had left  
for him. Mac tried to summarize what had happened so far,  
including the worrying message that she had gotten from Captain Lundt.

"Harm, where are you now?" Mac asked Harm.

"I'm just leaving for Dulles from North Dakota," he replied.

"Well, you need to get back to Washington as fast as you can.  
Oh Harm, I'm so afraid she's done something to hurt herself!  
She begged me not to let them take her back to Jim's house and I did  
nothing to help her!" Mac sobbed, as Harm sat powerless, on the other  
side of the line.

"Don't worry," he comforted, "I'm right behind you, Sarah.  
Everything's going to be okay. As soon as I get into Dulles,  
I'll give you a call."

OOOO

A couple of hours later, Mac pulled up in the busy yard of the  
Davidson house, noticing all of the police officers that were  
swarming around. The front door had 'crime scene' tape across  
it, so Mac ran towards the back door, dodging Captain Lundt in  
the driveway, who tried to stop her. Mac felt her stomach  
wrench as she took in the scene of total devastation. The glass door  
had been smashed through and the glass pieces were scattered across  
the blood soaked porch and concrete pathway below. Mac, unable to  
deal with what she saw, dropped to her knees and emptied the contents  
of her stomach into the bushes in the back yard. After the wrenching  
in her stomach had eased, Mac tearfully asked Captain Lundt, "Where  
is she? Please can I see her?"

Captain Lundt hesitated momentarily and Mac mistook this to mean that  
her worst fear were true, that all of this blood couldn't have come  
out of one person, without killing them.

As the Captain finally found the words, he explained, "Rick Manning  
found her Mac. Jim was passed out drunk on the couch, in the house.  
We think he must have come after her with a softball bat while she  
was trying to get out of the house. The doors were locked and we  
presume that she fell through the glass door and down the steps into  
the yard. They rushed her to the County Medical Center, but they  
weren't equipped to deal with such a trauma. Her injuries were so  
severe that they've rushed her by air ambulance to Bethesda for  
immediate treatment. The last update I got said that she was on the  
operating table, but I'm afraid it doesn't look good."

Seeing the state that Mac was in, he asked her, "Is there anything I  
can do for you?"

Mac shook her head, but told him, "My partner's on his way home from  
an assignment. I've got to get back to D.C. and get to Bethesda.  
Once I get there, I can give my commanding officer and some friends  
that I work with at JAG a call."

"But you're in no condition to drive. How about I get one of my  
Deputies to rush you down there? I could arrange to have your car  
delivered, tomorrow," he suggested.

Too weak to argue, Mac just nodded, as Captain Lundt led her to one  
of the police vehicles. He gave the deputy a set of precise orders,  
then turned to Mac, telling her," I'll keep trying to contact Cathy's  
social worker." He handed her Cathy's small, purple diary, then  
closed the door of the police cruiser, which pulled out of the  
driveway, sirens blaring.

OOOO


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Just want to quickly say that I have no medical knowledge, so if I've

made some glaringly obvious mistakes, please forgive me. I'm hoping that

you'll still enjoy this, anyway?

OOOO

Ch 2

As Mac closed the diary, her mind reeling, she once again  
wondered how she had managed to misread all of the obvious  
signs. The awkward phone calls, the absence of letters,  
followed by the sudden letter with the wrong name on it. She  
had noted Catriona's reluctance to talk about Jim, her discomfort when  
around him, but it had never once crossed her mind that he was  
beating Cathy. Mac had not even thought of such a possibility when  
Cathy had been reluctant to let Mac drive her home.

Just then, Harm rushed into the waiting room, sitting down  
beside her as she explained what had happened.

"Why on earth did Jim do this? I thought her adored that kid!" He  
exclaimed to Mac.

"He was an alcoholic, Harm. He was drunk and he freaked out when  
Catriona tried to leave the house. He attacked her with her own  
softball bat."

Harm paled, staring with large, shocked eyes.

"But she is going to be okay, isn't she?" he stammered.

"I don't know, she's been in surgery for nearly six hours now.  
The nurses have come out a couple of times, but said that they  
would be in there for quite a while longer. I just can't believe I  
didn't realize that any of this was happening to her. All those times  
when she was in so much pain, she was crying out for my help and I  
wasn't there for her."

As Mac started to cry again, Harm pulled her into his arms, wishing  
that he could have been there to comfort her, after all that she had  
been through over the last week.

"I should have been there," he thought, "I should have been there for  
Mac and for Cathy."

OOOO

Later, Harm got back from the phone, after calling the Admiral  
and updating him on the situation. AJ had told him that he would be  
down as soon as he could, after he wrapped up some important matters  
and got Lt. Roberts prepared to hold down the fort while he was  
gone.

As Harm sat down beside Mac once more, he put a comforting arm around  
her shoulders, Mac leaned her head against Harm's chest as he softly  
stroked her hair, lulling her into an exhausted sleep.

The next thing she was conscious of, The Admiral had joined them in the  
waiting room. Neither she nor Harm made any move to change to a more  
professional poise and AJ said nothing about their attempt to comfort  
one another.

After a while, a nurse joined them in the waiting room,  
waiting until Mac had woken and sorted herself out before she  
continued,

"The doctors have just wheeled Miss Carter out of the recovery  
room. They're just getting her set up in the ICU."

"Can we see her?" Mac asked her.

At first, the nurse hesitated, but seeing the look of desperation on  
Mac's face, nodded and continued, "However, before I bring you in,  
Catriona's doctor will want to have a word with you about her  
condition. Miss Carter has suffered a massive amount of trauma and  
you're likely to find it very distressing. Right now, she is on a  
life support system."

She continued to explain about all of the machines that they would  
see in Cathy's room, the ventilator, the electro-cardiograph, the IV  
drip.

"There will be a lot of tubes and wires attached to Cathy, in order  
for us to keep as close an eye on her condition as possible."

As she finished this, a doctor entered the room and asked,

"Are you Catriona Carter's family?"

"They're about the closest thing to it." The Admiral told him.

"Is there an actual family member, who perhaps lives nearby?"  
the doctor persisted.

"Doctor, it was Cathy's only living family member who did this  
to her," The Admiral told him, agitated.

"Okay, I'm sorry," the doctor apologized, then told them, "My  
name is Doctor Mark Robertson. Everyone around here calls me  
Doctor Mark. I was one of the surgeons operating on Catriona."

He took a deep breath as he proceeded to gently give them the  
rundown of Cathy's injuries.

"As the nurse has probably told you, Cathy is on a ventilator,  
as well as a life support machine, as one of her lungs was  
punctured by one of several broken ribs. Miss Carter also has a  
broken left arm, a break of both the humerus and ulna bones.  
When she was brought into the local medical center, near where  
she lived, she was suffering from trauma to her eyes, caused by  
shards of glass. They successfully managed to remove it all before  
she was transported here, so we are confident that there will be  
minimal damage to her eyes, hopefully none that is permanent, at  
least. To make sure that there is no threat of infection, we have  
bandaged her eyes and to eliminate that risk, we'll be leaving them on  
as long as possible. However, what we found more alarming were the  
old hairline fractures that we found in her ribs and skull, when we  
took x-rays. These probably healed without any treatment, but these  
do suggest that Catriona did suffer long-term abuse, that may affect  
her body's ability to heal and recover. Most of the damage was done  
to the lower body, inflicted by a massive amount of blunt force,  
indicative of bludgeoning. Both of Cathy's legs were dislocated from  
the hip sockets and Catriona's left leg has been broken in two places  
above the knee and three places below it. Cathy's pelvis, arm and  
left leg have been set in plaster casts, along with her right leg,  
which is broken at the ankle. We are assuming that this injury was  
caused by a fall, which broke most of her toes. Most of her fingers  
on her right hand and some on her left hand are also broken.  
However, despite the massive amount of trauma that Miss Carter has  
sustained, we are very pleased that she is not showing any signs of  
brain injury. So far there has been no significant swelling of the  
brain within the skull cavity, which is what we'd worry about most in  
a case such as this. All we can do for the next 48 hours is observe  
her vital signs and hope that they start to pick up."

Dr. Mark then helped Harm, Mac and AJ up from their seats, and then led  
them through several hallways, to the Intensive Care Unit. Through  
the windows, Mac caught sight of the tiny, broken figure of  
Cathy, as she lay surrounded by the huge machines and bundles of  
wires. The sight was too much for her and she recoiled violently,  
her legs giving way beneath her. Harm caught her around the middle  
as she crumpled to the floor, her legs collapsing beneath her. Harm  
held her close as she was wracked with violent sobs, trying in vain  
to keep the tears at bay himself. The Admiral turned away, cursing  
quietly as he placed his head in his hands. He was speechless for  
the next couple of minutes, thinking to himself,

"God, if this had ever happened to Francesca, I don't know what I  
would have done."

He then realised, "I don't even know what to do now, what should I  
do? How do I fix this?"

As he stood there, feeling helpless, Harm stood cradling Mac as  
she sobbed her heart out.

OOOO

After they had all pulled themselves together, they prepared  
themselves for the torturous task at hand. A nurse brought them  
through the ICU doors, to Cathy's bedside. The nurse looked  
over Cathy's vital signs, before turning to Harm, Mac and AJ,  
who were just standing gawping at the machines, at a loss as to what  
to do.

"It's okay," the nurse told them," these machines are just doing the  
job of Catriona's body for her, until her body has recovered enough  
to work on it's own. You can talk to her and hold her hand, if you  
want to. We've often found that patients respond to the voice and  
touch of a loved one."

"I'm just afraid of knocking something or disrupting one of the  
machines. I don't want to hurt her," Mac confessed.

With the nurse's help, they managed to settle themselves in the  
chairs by the bed, talking to Cathy, holding her strapped,  
plastered hands and gently stroking her hair back from her face. Mac  
traced the dark purple bruise that marred Cathy's face.

Gauze and bandages covered her eyes, so Mac wasn't able to gaze into  
their great, blue depths. The Admiral sat in the corner, simply  
staring at the broken little figure of the girl he had come to love  
like a daughter. While Cathy had been staying with Harm and Mac, she  
and AJ had become very close, not just to each other, but to the  
entire JAG staff and AJ now looked upon them all as family, as much  
now as ever before. Looking behind him, AJ took a look at the rest  
of the patients who were in the intensive care unit. Most were  
either in their middle or late years. One man looked to be in his  
early thirties, but Catriona, by far, was the youngest in the room.

He noticed a tired looking woman, sitting next to the bed behind him,  
holding the hand of an old man who seemed to be her Father. The old  
man looked as if he'd just gotten out of surgery. The woman looked up  
at AJ, giving him a soft, friendly smile, as if to let him know that  
she understood what he was going through. He smiled back in reply  
and turned back, to concentrate on what Harm and Mac were doing, as  
they sat beside Cathy's bed. Mac had leaned her chin on the edge of  
the bed and was focusing her attention on Cathy's face, as if  
looking for signs of the girl waking up. Harm had a comforting hand  
on Mac's back, supportively. AJ suddenly felt a wave of unbearable  
fury descend on him. How could any man do this to a child? God  
help him if he ever got his hands on Jim Davidson! He'd tear him  
limb from limb!

At that, AJ decided to go outside and get himself a cup of coffee and  
calm down. This was no way to help Catriona. After first asking  
Harm and Mac if they wanted something to drink, AJ headed out of the  
ICU and down the hallway to the vending machines. On his way back,  
he noticed the woman who was sitting by the next bed, in one of the  
chairs, outside the ICU. She seemed to be staring off into space,  
probably just getting her thoughts. AJ took a seat next to her and  
she startled out of her thoughts. Smiling back at AJ, she introduced  
herself.

"Hi, I'm Sydney."

"I'm AJ. Pretty stuffy in there, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I just had to come out to get myself together."

"Is that your Dad, in there?"

"Yep, he's just out of a hip replacement operation."

"I hope he's doing okay."

"Oh, yeah, he'll be fine. His doctor just wanted to put him in there  
as a precaution, because of his age. He didn't respond too well to  
the anesthetic, either. But he'll be fine now and he should be moved  
out before the end of the week."

"That's good," AJ nodded, agreeably.

"Is that your Granddaughter, who you're here to see?" Sydney  
broached, tentatively.

"No, not Granddaughter, but sort of a granddaughter-figure. She's like  
the granddaughter I've never had...Cathy's a friend of mine and of my  
colleagues."

"I really hope that she'll get better, soon," Sydney told AJ, genuinely, but finding the right words with a bit of difficulty.

"Me, too," AJ agreed, "But only time will tell."

AJ said goodbye and went back into the ICU with the coffee that he had  
bought for Harm. Sydney remained where she was, not ready to go  
back in yet. The beeping of all of the machines had given her a  
headache that was taking a while to subside.

At that minute, another nurse approached the nurse's station,  
opposite Sydney, to clock on for her shift. Sydney remembered  
when she had been doing her internship in medicine in  
this very unit, before she had become a general practitioner,  
when she had decided to stay at Bethesda. She couldn't remember ever  
seeing anything quite as traumatic during her internship as she had  
during this week.

The nurse clocking on for her shift turned to another nurse, asking  
her, "Any new patients while I've been away?"

"Yep," nurse Amy replied, "A few. 67 year-old man, three beds  
from the far wall. Hip replacement patient. 54 year-old lady,  
far bed on the left, kidney transplant. But our most critical  
patient is in the left hand-side bed, by the window. She's  
flat lined on us twice since she arrived..."

The new nurse turned to look where nurse Amy pointed, then gasped in  
horror. "Jesus..."she cursed, softly, "What was it, road accident?"

"No," Amy replied, quietly, murmuring two telling words,  
understandably disgusted by them.

"Domestic abuse."

OOOO

Over the next week or so, the group was visited by the entire  
JAG staff. Harriet and Bud came to visit on the second day, with a  
big bunch of flowers. After getting over the initial shock of seeing  
Cathy's state for the first time, Harriet turned to Mac, a concerned  
look on her face.

"Ma'am, have you eaten yet?" Mac just shook her head, as Harm  
explained, "Mac hasn't been able to keep any food down since we got  
here. I keep trying to get her to drink something, but she doesn't  
think that she'd be able to keep that down either."

Harriet finally managed to persuade Mac to come down to the hospital  
canteen and Harm said that he would come as well. As they sat at the  
table in the canteen and talked, Mac began to get more and more  
anxious to get back to the ICU.

"Don't worry Ma'am," Harriet told her," The Admiral and Bud will keep  
an eye on her. The doctors and the nurses are only a buzz away."

But the gnawing feeling in Mac's stomach wouldn't go away, until she  
thought that she might not be able to make it back to the ICU, it was  
so bad.

Just then, all three of them heard the emergency page over the  
tannoy system.

"Paging Doctor Mark to ICU, Doctor Mark to ICU, we have a code blue."

Harm, Mac and Harriet bolted from the table and sprinted to the  
elevators.

OOOO


	3. Chapter 3

OOOO

Ch 3

In the ICU, sitting next to her Father's bed, Sydney Walden was

shocked by what had just occurred. Her Fathers doctor had just been

in to check on him and all had appeared to be going well. However,

barely a second later, Sydney became aware of a change in the heart

monitor on the young girl in the next bed. She

heard the voice of the man whom she had met the day before,

speak up.

"Catriona? Sweetheart, are you awake?"

Sydney then heard movement and the muffled cry of pain from the young

girl, before the other man at her bedside begin to speak.

"Cathy, Cathy... Sweetie, keep still...I know you're in pain,

but try...Hang on, I'll go and get a doctor..."

Just then, all sound of movement ceased and the low, monotonous

pitch of the heart monitor filled the room.

Up until then, Martin Walden's doctor had been listening to

his patient's chest with a stethoscope, but he pulled it off,

realized what the sound was, then bolted around to the other side of

the curtain. Sydney heard the doctor quickly usher the two men out,

then lean out of the door into the hallway and

bellow to the nurses, "Page Dr. Mark, quickly! His patient has

flat lined!"

OOOO

Bud and AJ stood outside the ICU, still very visibly upset. AJ lay a

comforting hand on Bud's shoulder as he took a long,

calming breath. Bud was wiping the tear marks from his face,

when Harriet, Harm and Mac ran up to them from the direction of the

elevators.

"Bud, AJ, what happened?" Mac implored.

"She coded ma'am. She woke up and was in pain, so she started

struggling against the machines. Then she passed out and the

heart monitor went off. Her heart stopped beating ma'am..."

Bud took a distraught Harriet into his arms as Harm tightened

his hold on Mac as her hand went to her mouth.

"The doctors are in there now, trying to resuscitate her."

Mac took a step towards the door, but Harm pulled her back.

"No Mac.."

"But I have to be in there with her.." Mac protested.

"Just give the doctors a few minutes.." Harm insisted, pulling

her back towards him and rubbing her shoulders as they all

anxiously awaited the doctors.

OOOO

Things were no less tense inside the ICU. Sydney sat in horror as

she heard the goings-on, behind the curtain around the next

bed.

Doctor Mark had already performed four rounds of CPR and still, the

heart monitor was recording no signs of life.

Finally, Dr. Mark decided, "It's not working...break out the

crash kit."

The chief nurse prepared the machine, handing the paddles to Dr. Mark

as she set the voltage. After one shock, there was still no change,

so Dr. Mark tried it again at the same setting.

Still nothing.

"Turn it up a notch," he told the nurse.

After doing so, Nurse Amy gave him the go-ahead, as everyone

stood clear. Sydney heard the sound of the shock, then the

noise of the heart monitor resuming it's normal rhythm.

"Thank you God!" was all Sydney was able to think.

Each of the doctors and nurses in the room breathed a sigh of

relief, as Dr. Mark pronounced, "We've got her back."

There was a pause as the nurse suddenly gasped.

"But doctor, look at the monitor..."

Sydney heard a pause, then Dr. Mark's soft groan.

"No...How do I tell her family this?"

"What is it, Mark?" Another doctor asked.

"The patient is comatose," Dr. Mark surmised, "How do I tell

them this?"

OOOO

Finally, the nurses and the doctors filed out of the ICU and Dr. Mark

walked over to where the JAG group were standing.

"Is she okay, Doctor?" Harm asked him in a fearful voice.

"We got her back, Commander Rabb," the doctor told him, but

quickly added," but I'm afraid that Catriona's condition has

worsened."

Harm, Mac, Harriet, Bud and AJ simply stared at him, afraid to

ask him for more information.

"I'm afraid that Catriona has lapsed into a coma."

The group stood wordless, as Dr Mark explained that the lapse

was probably the result of the huge trauma and shock that

Cathy's body had suffered.

OOOO

Cathy spent much of the next day in the X-Ray department, as

doctors checked to make sure that no damage had been done to her

newly set bones and to the functioning of her internal organs.

Sydney Walden had arrived at the hospital that morning to find

that her Father had been moved to his own room, on another floor of

the hospital.

"Your doctor's really pleased with your progress," she

congratulated him, afterward, while they were chatting. "He

didn't expect you to be out of the ICU until the end of the

week. If all goes well, you'll soon be able to transfer to a

rehabilitation unit, then you'll be able to go home, once you're back

up to full speed again."

"Have you ever known me to be off my feet for long?" her Father joked

and Sydney nodded. It was just like her Father to be

raring to go. He'd always been a fighter. After this, the

conversation inevitably turned to the young girl in the ICU.

"I just hope that girl is able to fight back, like you are,"

she commented.

"Would you go down to the ICU before you go and check on her for me?"

her Father requested, "She seemed like she was having a

really bad time, last night. Her heart stopped again twice,

during the night and her parents were taking it really bad. Her poor

Grandpa, he looked like he was going to break down. I

don't know what I'd have done, if something like that had ever

happened to you or to Danny, when you were growing up..."

"Those aren't her parents," Sydney told him, "They're friends

who are taking care of her."

"How do you know that? They're a bit young, but I'm sure they

might be..."

"No, the older man told me," Sydney replied, telling him how she had

met AJ. Finally, she concluded, "I don't think they're letting her

family see her. I heard a couple of the nurses talking about how she

got here. They said it was domestic abuse."

"Domestic abuse? Holy Mother of...I thought she had been in a

car wreck! Somebody did that to her?" Sydney's Father cried,

incredulously, "How could someone do that to their child?"

"I don't know...I don't understand how a parent could do that to

their own child, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. I saw

it so many times, during my internship. But whoever it

was..."

"They deserve a fate worse than death," Martin Walden growled,

angry and disgusted.

Sydney walked down to the ICU, after leaving her Father and

breathed a sigh of relief upon finding Cathy still in her bed by the

window.

"Poor kid," Sydney thought to herself, eyeing all of the tubes

snaking in and out of the girl, "There's hardly an inch of her

that isn't stuck by a needle or covered by a plaster cast. Even then,

anywhere that isn't, is either bruised black and blue or

cut up.

Just then, Harm walked back down the hallway, on his way back

from the bathroom. He noticed Sydney by the window and moved

to introduce himself.

"Hi, it's Sydney, isn't it?"

Sydney nodded and held her hand out, to shake his.

"My CO, AJ said that he had met you, the day when Cathy was

first brought in. Is your Father alright? I noticed that he had been

moved from the bed next to us, when I arrived this

morning."

"Oh, yeah, he's fine. His doctor's satisfied that he's out of

any danger, so they've moved him into his own room. He's

recovering from a hip-replacement operation, but his doctor

just wanted to put him in the ICU as a precaution, because of his

age. He's getting better now, though."

"Good.." Harm replied, then turned back to look at Cathy,

through the window. The last few days had been hard, but Harm

was still hoping that Cathy might just show some progress,

sometime soon.

"Is your little girl going to be okay? Cathy, is that her

name?"

"We really hope so, but right now, it's all up to Cathy to make it

through this. She's not my daughter, just a close friend of mine.

Daughter figure, though. I only wish that I'll have a

kid as great as her, someday. My partner and I think the world

of her."

At that moment, Sydney and Harm watched Mac rise from the seat

where she had been sleeping and stretch out her cramping

muscles. After doing that, she sat right back down again,

taking Cathy's hand up in her own and starting to speak to her, once

more.

"She really seems to care a lot for her," Sydney noted.

"Yeah, Mac and I would do anything for her. Cathy's like a

little sister, daughter and best friend, all rolled into one.

We feel just sick that all of this has happened to her...If...

When Cathy gets better, Mac and I are going to make sure that nothing

ever happens to her, ever again."

"She wasn't living with you, when..."

"No, Cathy was in foster care, being looked after by a family

member. Both of Cathy's parents are deceased and my partner and I

wanted her to come and live with us, but because she had

a living blood relative in the country, she was placed in their

care. But now... we'll never let this happen again...We're

going to makes sure of that."

"Your partner, she's your partner in work?"

"Yes," Harm replied, "I'm a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy,

Mac's a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps. We're both

assigned to the Jag corps. in Falls Church. AJ is an Admiral

there and is our Commanding Officer."

"You all look like you very close," Sydney observed.

"Yes," Harm agreed, "We're all very close. I don't think we'd

all be able to function, if not for one-another. The rest of

the staff at JAG are very supportive, as well. They all think

the world of Cathy, too. They're all praying for her."

"My Father and I will be praying for her, as well," Sydney

assured Harm.

"Thank you," Harm thanked her, on behalf of himself, Mac and AJ, "I'm

sure than Cathy would be glad to know that she had a couple more

supporters in her corner. You can never have to much

support."

After Sydney bid Harm goodbye, she went back up to tell her

Father the promising news.

OOOO

Soon after that, Martin Walden was transferred to another unit, to

begin his rehabilitation. He and Sydney never saw Cathy or her JAG

family again in the hospital, but the group was never far

from their thoughts.

OOOO

Three weeks passed and because Harm and Mac had to return to

work, all of the JAG staff took it in turns to watch over Cathy

while the others worked on cases. Mac, blaming herself for not

recognizing the situation that Cathy was in with Jim, would

often sit from the Friday night until late the Sunday night by

Cathy's bed, talking to her about anything and everything.

However, Monday would always come, when she had to return to JAG and

let someone with an empty caseload take over, until she

could empty hers and return. The experience of working

together brought the family at JAG even closer together. However,

between Harm and Mac, the suppressed emotions and feelings were

beginning to build, threatening to erupt, like a volcano.

OOOO

One Friday evening, after the Admiral had just left, Harm and

Mac found themselves together by Cathy's bedside, tension

clearly settling between them as they tried to make civilized

conversation. Realizing that Mac was about to negotiate

another marathon weekend, before a busy week, Harm finally

confronted her.

"Mac, you can't keep doing this," he told her.

Trying to fake a look of surprise, Mac asked him, "Doing what?"

"You know exactly what I mean. Pulling a three day weekend,

before going in to work to pull a five day week. You can't keep doing

this, you'll make yourself sick, Mac."

"How I spend my time is none of your business, Commander," she

snapped back, airily.

"What is this about, Mac?" Harm finally confronted her, "Why do you

feel that you have to be here twenty-four/seven?"

Unable to hold it inside any longer, Mac finally broke down and told

him, "If it hadn't been for me, Cathy wouldn't be here in

the first place."

"Is that what you think? That this is somehow your fault?" Harm asked

her, incredulously.

"Well isn't it?" Mac continued, "I was the one who left her that day,

instead of going to make sure that she was okay. I left

her there, at the mercy of that madman!"

"That madman is the one who put her here, not you," Harm

insisted, "I don't think that Cathy would have been able to make it

this far, without you."

Mac simply looked at the floor, so Harm grabbed her by the

shoulders, lifting up her chin, so she had no choice but to look him

straight in the eyes.

"Listen to me Sarah, hear me when I tell you this. None of

this is your fault. Don't you think that I blame myself for

not being there when you and Cathy needed me?"

Wiping the tears away from her eyes, Mac told him, "You're here now

and that's all that matters."

Through the darkness, Cathy heard every word being said and

tried to break through the emptiness that held her like a

prison, to let the both of them know that she was still there

and was not going anywhere.

From their place next to the window, Harm and Mac looked over to where

Cathy lay, both noting that the beeps emitted by the heart monitor

were getting faster, getting stronger.

"Harm," Mac asked quietly, "will you call for the nurse? I think she

can hear us."

OOOO


	4. Chapter 4

OOOO

Ch 4

Once again, Dr Mark ran the pen along the tips of the toes on Cathy's

left foot, checking to see if she would respond to

physical stimulus. Once again, she did not.

"This doesn't mean that Cathy isn't improving," he told an

anxious Harm and Mac,"Her vital signs keep strengthening

slightly and there is every possibility that she can hear us,

but just can't get her body to respond."

Cathy continued to slowly improve over the next week and within the

month, she was able to breath and function without the help of the

machines. Mac would sit and talk to her in Russian and

Farsi, or simply just make plans for what they could do

together, once Cathy woke up and eventually left the hospital.

Harriet liked to come in and tell Cathy stories about little AJ; his

first smile, his first tooth, what new sounds he was making.

The Admiral would come in and tell Cathy about his Vietnam days,or

would read letters from Francesca, filling her in on the

latest fashion details, straight from the catwalks of Milan,

in Italian.

One Friday evening, Harm arrived at the hospital, after

returning home after work to change, to find that Mac was

already there. Harm observed that she was still in her Marine

green uniform, so she must have come straight from court. He

stood silently by the door, watching as Mac sat on the side of

the bed, gently combing through Catriona's silky hair, which had by

this time grown quite long again. Mac quietly hummed a song, unaware

that Harm was there. Smiling to himself, Harm thought,

"She would have been so good with a child of our own, our own

baby. Rabb, you were a fool to let her slip through your

fingers!"

As Harm noticed the diamond engagement ring glint in the light

from her left hand, he reminded himself that Mac had made her

choice. Her choice was to marry Mic Brumby and now, all that

mattered was her happiness. He would never foresake that for

anything, even if it meant living with a broken heart for the

rest of his life.

Harm shook himself from his thoughts and walked further into the room,

where Mac still sat with Cathy, quietly singing to her.

"That's pretty." he commented on the song, "What's it called?"

Mac straightened up, dismissing her rare show of emotion by

saying, "Oh nothing, it's just a melody I once heard. I don't

even know what the words to it are."

They spent the rest of the evening sitting in comfortable

silence, each feeling more secure with the other than they had

done in a long time.

OOOO

Once more, Cathy fought through the darkness surrounding her,

reaching for the voices that penetrated from beyond. But it was no

good and she gave in, laying down the enormous weight that

she had been carrying for so long. As she did so, she felt

herself being lifted up through the shadows, towards a light

that was getting closer by the second. In her subconscious,

Cathy found herself on an escalator, being lifted towards an

unknown destination. She leaned over the side and looked down

into the impenetrable darkness and shivered at the thought of

falling down there. Once she got to the top, she realized that she

was now in a busy shopping mall, with crowds of people

milling around her. As she looked to her right, she caught

sight of the supermarket through a break in the crowd. Walking

towards it, she realized this was her supermarket. It was the

supermarket where she had been taken from, where she had reached the

dramatic fork in the road, which had determined the rest of her life

and where she was today. Catriona searched through the crowded

supermarket, not knowing what it was that she was

looking for, but just feeling within her heart that there was

something that she had to find. Just then, she came to a

deserted aisle and saw the abandoned shopping cart. As she got

closer, she told herself, "That's my shopping cart."

Suddenly, she was no longer part of the scene, but simply an

observer, watching from some unknown place above. She watched

as a tiny figure approached the shopping cart. It was herself, at

two years old, exactly as she had been on the day of the

abduction. The poor child searched around the cart, calling all the

time for her Mommy, trying to find the person she had never really

gotten to know. Now, Catriona became part of the scene

once more, seeing out through the eyes of the little girl she

had once been. She called for her Mom several more times,

before sitting down in the middle of the aisle and beginning to cry.

Her sobs were just beginning to subside, when she sensed

that someone was standing in front of her and looked, to see a

very familiar figure. Gazing up, she drank in the sight of

the person in full military dress, none other than Mac. She held

her arms up as Mac stooped down to lift her.

Mac rocked the now sleeping child gently in her embrace, softly

humming her lullaby to Cathy once more. She held her tiny hand

tightly within hers, holding it over her heart.

OOOO


	5. Chapter 5

OOOO

Ch 5

When Cathy came to, she was not able to see where she was, nor

was she able to move. She smelled the odor of disinfectant in

the air and surmised that she must be in a hospital bed. She

also noted that she was not able to move her right hand, which

was covered by something warm and soft, another hand. Feeling

the rough texture of a Marine Corps ring, Cathy guessed that it must

be Mac's.

"Mac?" she uttered, quietly. Mac's head shot off the edge of the

bed, where she had been dozing.

"Hey there, sleepyhead!" she greeted Cathy,"We've all been

waiting for you to wake up."

"Mac," Cathy asked," why can't I see?"

Mac held back the hand that Cathy started to raise to her face,

telling her, "Your eyes are just bandaged, sweetheart. They'll be

fine, but the doctor wants to leave the bandages on a little longer,

to make sure that they don't get infected."

"Why can't I move my legs?"

"They're in a plaster cast."

"My other arm too?"

Mac nodded in reply as Doctor Mark walked through the door and

commented," So I hear that my favorite patient is finally

awake."

As he checked Catriona out, Mac went to phone Harm at JAG, to

give him the good news.

OOOO

That evening, the room was packed with well-wishers from JAG,

who had all come to see 'The Sleeping Beauty.'

"You did a pretty good job, keeping us on the edge of our seats like

that," The Admiral joked.

"How long have I been out of it?" Cathy asked.

"Nearly seven weeks now," Harm told her.

Just then, Doctor Mark returned, announcing to the group,

"I hate to be the one to disrupt the party, but I'm going to

need to see my patient for a moment."

As the JAG staff filed out of the room, Dr. Mark asked Catriona, "How

about we take those bandages off and see how your eyes are doing?"

Cathy readily agreed, but asked, "Can Harm and Mac stay?"

"Sure," Dr. Mark told her, turning out the lights, then removing a

pair of scissors from his coat pocket, proceeded to snip away the

bandages covering Cathy's eyes. As they fell away, Cathy

opened and shut her eyes a couple of times, then stared

straight ahead.

After giving her eyes a minute to adjust, Dr, Mark

asked her, "Anything?" Cathy just shook her head. Harm and Mac

stood anxiously in the corner of the room.

"Not even shadows?"

"No nothing."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry at all, just yet," Dr. Mark insisted, "Your eyes

are just going to need a bit more time. Your whole body

has been working overtime to repair itself. Your eyesight

wasn't so high priority, so your eyes will just need a bit more

time. They'll heal with time Catriona. "

After a second, he continued, "But I think that tomorrow, we'll be

able to take the casts of you right leg and your arm."

Cathy just nodded, laying her head down on the pillow and

closing her eyes.

OOOO

At the end of the week, Cathy was discharged from the hospital

and Harm and Mac wheeled her out to the hospital pick-up area,

where Bud Roberts had brought the car around to. Harriet opened the

hospital entrance door and Harm pushed Cathy up to the car, as Mac

opened the car door. Harm carefully lifted Cathy into his arms and she

put her arms around his neck, tensing a little.

"It's okay," he told her, "I've got you."

At this, she relaxed and Mac smiled as she pulled Harm closer,

A breeze blowing across them, ruffling Cathy's long blond curls. Her

clear blue eyes reflected a peace that Mac hadn't seen in

the girl since before they had left Nigeria.

On the journey home Catriona sat in between Mac and Harriet in

the back seat, as Harm sat in the front with Bud, who was

driving. Cathy kept trying to keep her eyes open, much to Mac

and Harriet's amusement, but finally gave in, slumping against

Mac's shoulder. Mac then put an arm around her, rubbing the

temple of her head, as it rested against her collar bone.

Once they had gotten home to Mac's place, Catriona insisted that Harm

and Mac do nothing for her, but contented herself to crawl around on

the floor, since the considerable pain in her hips and legs, not to

mention a bulky cast, prevented her from straightening out her legs and standing.

Harm and Mac watched in amazed silence as Cathy moved about the apartment, memorizing where each object stood, how far the coffee table was from the kitchen, where the bedroom was from the front door.

At that moment, Harm's cell phone rang and he answered it, to find that his

Mother was on the other end of the line.

"Hi Mom! You're not in D.C., are you?" he asked her

"Yes darling, I just got in. Frank is on his way to an

important conference in L.A., but he dropped me off at The

Hilton, before he left to catch his next flight."

"But you weren't supposed to be in until next Wednesday. You

didn't cut your vacation cruise short, did you?"

"Now Harmon Rabb, Jr., it's already bad enough that you didn't

tell me that Cathy was in the hospital until a week ago, but

now you're refusing my help when I'm volunteering it..."

"No Mom, I just didn't expect you for another three days is all

...And about me delaying telling you about Cathy, I just didn't want

to ruin your cruise. It isn't every day that a woman gets taken on a

second honeymoon. Besides, I wasn't able to contact the ship for two

weeks. I did intend to let you know sooner..."

"It's alright darling, I understand. Now, I'm just going to get unpacked, then I'll be right round."

"Alright Mom, we'll see you in a little while," Harm replied,

hanging up.

A week before, after finally reaching Frank and Trish, they had

broken the news to Trish that Cathy was in the hospital, but had told

her nothing about how she had sustained her injuries. She had

agreed, only too glad to help, when Harm and Mac had asked

her if she could come to D.C. to help take care of Cathy during the

day, while they were working. They had told her that it

would only be for a week or so, until one of them could get some more

time off, but Trish insisted that she would remain as long as she was

needed.

Now, as the doorbell rang, Mac stood up from the couch, where

she had continued to watch Cathy move around the apartment.

Mac greeted Trish, but stepped outside and closed the door

behind her as she prepared to tell her what had happened to

Cathy.

OOOO


	6. Chapter 6

OOOO

Ch 6

After ten minutes or so, Harm put aside the dinner that he had

just taken out of the oven and went out into the hallway, to seehow

his Mother had recieved the news. He saw that she was

blotting away the last of her tears with a tissue, while Mac

tried her best to comfort her.

"Oh, of course, I'm fine. I'm just scared to death of what

shape that poor girl will be in, after all that she's been

through."

"Mom, she's been through a lot and she still has a lot more to go

through, but she really seems to be adapting to this all

marvelously well."

"He's right," Mac added, "in fact, since we got home, Cathy's

been crawling about the apartment, memorizing the whole floor

plan. She can't see where she's going, or move about like she

could before, but she's not letting that stop her for a second."

Trish smiled at this, then prepared herself to enter the

apartment.

Harm opened the front door, letting Mac and then his Mom in,

before he walked in and shut the door behind him. As Trish

entered the doorway, Cathy was seated on the carpet in the

living room, her head tilted upwards, listening to the arrival

of the visitor, a small smile on her face as she realized who it was.

"Trish!" she asked, barely daring to believe her ears.

"Yes darling, it's me! How are you feeling, my love?"

"I'm doing alright. I've just taken my pain meds, so the pain

in my legs isn't too bad. I start physio at the hospital this

weekend. Dr. Mark say I'm making very good progress."

"That's wonderful! Mac tells me you've got this place memorized to a

T."

"Yeah, I may not be able to see, but I'll be darned if I won't

do things for myself."

The group spent the evening eating dinner and talking about

Trish and Frank's trip to the Mediterranean for their 20th

Wedding Anniversary . Cathy flatly refused any help with her

dinner, insisting on doing it herself, a process that proved to be

very long and messy, but eventually, she finish her meal and

triumphantly helped Mac load the dishwasher. Afterwards, she

retired to bed, while Harm took his Mom back to the Hilton and

Mac settled for relaxing on the coach, with a newspaper.

OOOO

Later that night, Mac emerged from the bedroom, unable to sleep, to

get herself a cup of cocoa from the kitchen. She was careful to be as

quiet as possible, but nevertheless, when she walked back into the living room, Harm was sitting up in his bed on the sofa.

"Sorry," Mac apologized, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't," Harm told her, then asked," You couldn't sleep

either, huh?"

Mac answered him by shaking her head, then asked him, "Would you like

me to make you some cocoa?"

"No thanks," he replied.

All was silent for a minute, then Harm tried to carry on the

conversation.

"So, when is Brumby getting back from Oz?" He made sure that he kept

all feelings of resentment out of his voice. As much as he didn't like the guy, he would never upset Mac by saying so. She meant too much to him for that.

"He should be back in a couple of weeks or so, he just has to

get a few family issues in order. The red tape is just taking a long

time to cut through."

After contemplating for a second, Harm finally took the plunge,

asking Mac, with concern in his voice, "Mac, you two aren't

thinking about moving out to Australia after the wedding, are

you?"

"Oh no Harm, of course not, I'd never leave my job here, again," she

told him with conviction," especially after the disaster that it

proved to be the last time."

Both of them quietly reflected for a minute on her departure

from JAG several years before, when she had gone to work at

Dalton Lowne's private firm. Harm remembered how lost he had felt

the entire time she had been gone.

"Geez Rabb," he silently berated himself, "you'd think you would

learn!"

"Besides," Mac reasoned, "I could never leave Cathy, but I'd

never take her away from you. You're just as big a part in her life

as I am."

Looking over at each other, they lapsed into a comfortable

silence as they sat together. After a while, without realizing it,

they fell asleep, gradually drifting together in slumber,

which unconsciously seemed to be so natural, almost a reflex.

Within a while, Mac was peacefully settled within Harm's arms,

each sleeping sounder than they had done in a long time.

OOOO

The next morning, they were both awakened by a peculiar

rustling sound. As Mac stirred, she looked over and could just see

the top of Catriona's head behind the coffee table. Cathy had

awakened not long before and had crawled through to the living

room, now for some reason rustling through magazines on the

table's lower shelf. Harm also stirred, but neither he nor Mac made

any move to extract themselves from their embrace.

"Cathy, what is it sweetie? Is something wrong?" Mac asked

Cathy, sleepily.

Cathy's head popped up and she looked Mac directly in the eye.

"No, on the contrary, things have never looked better!" Cathy

told them as she grinned about the predicament they had got

themselves into. Both Harm and Mac immediately scrambled off

the couch to hug Cathy, the apartment echoing with the sound of

laughter.

OOOO


	7. Chapter 7

OOOO

Ch 7

Cathy went through physiotherapy three times a week after she

had returned home. Being the fiercely independent person that

she was, she insisted on going into the physio room by herself,

telling Harm and Mac that she could do it on her own. Mac knew that

the physiotherapy had to be very painful for Cathy and most days, the girl's

eyes were red and teary from crying as she emerged from the exercise

room. The doctors had all explained that the road to recovery would

be an immensely painful one, as Catriona had

sustained very substantial trauma to her lower body and since

the muscles in her legs had been restrained and had wasted away, Cathy

would have to go through a process to stretch them out and build them

up once more. Cathy herself didn't talk much about

what she did in physio, but her nurse, Betsy would often speak to

Harm and Mac about the progress that Cathy was making. Harm never

missed a single physio appointment and afterwards, he

would sit in the backseat of the car with Cathy, while Mac drove

them home. Most of the time, Cathy would fall asleep

against him and he would gently cuddle her, stroking her hair

back from her face, exposing a side of himself, a nurturing side that

he seldom let show. Mac never missed an opportunity to

watch him through the rearview mirror, marveling at how gentle and

loving he was, a side of him which ignited the carefully

restrained fire that still burned within her heart. It made her think

back to the baby plan that she and Harm had made several

years earlier, which she still wanted as much now as she had

back then. However, she kept her emotions in check, reminding

herself that she was with Mic now, that Harm didn't want her in that

way, a fact that was more than adequately demonstrated by

the whole ferry scene in Australia. With this, Mac would sigh

quietly with regrets about what would never be.

OOOO

A couple of months later, while Cathy was in with Betsy, Harm

and Mac sat outside. Dr Mark had gone in a couple of minutes

before and now he stuck his head out of the door, beckoning Harm and

Mac to come in.

"Colonel, Commander, I think you should come in and see this,"

he told them, ushering them into the large, carpeted room.

Catriona was at the front of the room and Betsy was kneeling on the

floor, holding Cathy steady by her hips, as Cathy swayed a

little bit, unsteady on her feet. At first, Cathy did not see

them, but soon looked up and grinned at them, swaying and

nearly losing her balance. Harm and Mac stood anxiously, fighting the

urge to rush forward, as Betsy helped Cathy steady herself.

Then, Cathy took a small, tentative step forwards and continued

towards Harm and Mac, Betsy by her side helping her. When she

was a few meters away, Betsy took her hands slowly away from

Cathy, allowing her the chance to walk on her own. Tears of joy were,

by this time, coursing down both Harm and Mac's face and both had

proud smiles plastered across their faces. As Cathy

struggled with the last remaining steps, she stumbled into

their waiting arms and was swept up into a crushing embrace.

OOOO

As they left to go home that day, Harm pushing Cathy in her

wheelchair and Mac walking alongside, holding Cathy's hand, all

three chattered amicably. At the nurses station, Nurse Betsy

and Dr. Mark watched the happy scene.

"You know, they really do make a wonderful family."

"Yes, they do," Dr Mark agreed.

OOOO Continued in SP: 4: Getting It Right OOOO

AN: Posting on the next part will begin later tonight, so please check back...


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